The impact of training on faculty and student perceptions of cyber-bullying in an urban south central Texas middle school

Bullying has been around for decades; however, with the advancements of new emerging technology and devices, the ability for bullying to transcend into the cyber-world is becoming an international issue (Peleg-Oren, Cardenas, Comerford, & Galea, 2012). Moreover, the phenomenon of cyber-bullying has shown to be a growing concern among adolescents (Patchin & Hinduja, 2012). Researchers have been intently studying the effects associated with cyberbullying to gain a better understanding of its perpetrators, victims, and bystanders in addition to legal issues and ways to counteract cyber-bullying. This study focused on determining whether cyber-bullying training for students at an urban south central Texas middle school is effective in the school district’s effort to reduce and prevent cyber-bullying. The researcher utilized a quantitative research method for students in grades 6, 7 and 8 during the 2013-2014 academic school year to measure their perceptions regarding this single intervention. Data was collected by the school district through the administration of an online student cyber-bullying survey prior to students viewing an Internet Safety Basics video, one week after viewing the video and six weeks after students viewed the video. This archived data provided by the school district was analyzed by the researcher and determined that only one area of students’ perceptions with regard to the intervention was significant. This area focused on seventh grade students’ perception on the effects of cyber-bullying. When students’ and teachers’ perceptions were compared for analysis, two areas were found to have significant difference: their perceptions of the effects of cyber-bullying and their perceptions of ways on how to positively report cyberbullying. Other areas where no significance was found included the effects of cyber-bullying (grades 6 and 8) frequency of cyber-bullying incidents and ways to positively report cyberbullying grades (6, 7 and 8) based on survey responses to the intervention. Results indicate the need for more cyber-bullying interventions or curriculum for students in grades 6, 7 and 8 and training for middle school teachers as literature supports cyber-bullying peaks at these grade levels